25. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day. It shall be constantly open, allowing free ingress and egress to all who reside there. The language is derived from Is. lx. 11. See Notes on that place. Applied to the future state of the blessed, it would seem to mean, that while this will be their permanentabode, yet that the dwellers there will not be prisoners. The universe will be open to them. They will be permitted to go forth and visit every world, and survey the works of God in all parts of his dominions. ¶ For there shall be no night there. It shall be all day; all unclouded splendour. When, therefore, it is said that the gates should not be “shut by day,” it means that they would never be shut. When it is said that there would be no night there, it is, undoubtedly, to be taken as meaning that there would be no literal darkness, and nothing of which night is the emblem: no calamity, no sorrow, no bereavement, no darkened windows on account of the loss of friends and kindred. Comp. Notes on [ver. 4].
26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
26. And they shall bring, &c. See Notes on [ver. 24]. That blessed world shall be made up of all that was truly valuable and pure on the earth.
27 And[667] there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the [668]Lamb’s book of life.
27. And there shall in no wise. On no account; by no means. This strong language denotes the absolute exclusion of all that is specified in the verse. ¶ Anything that defileth. Literally, anything “common.” See Notes on Ac. x. 14. It means here that nothing will be found in that blessed abode which is unholy or sinful. It will be a pure world, 2 Pe. iii. 13. ¶ Neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie. See Notes on [ver. 8]. ¶ But they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Whose names are there recorded. See Notes on [ch. iii. 5]. Comp. Notes on [ver. 8].
CHAPTER XXII.
For the analysis of the first five verses of this chapter, see the Analysis of ch. xxi. The chapter comprises the remainder of the description of the “New Jerusalem”—the blessed abode of the saints (ver. 1–5), and then (ver. 6–21) the conclusion or epilogue of the whole book. It is difficult to conceive what induced the author of the division of the New Testament into chapters, to separate the first five verses of this chapter from the preceding chapter. A new chapter should have commenced at ver. 6 of ch. xxii.; for the remainder properly comprises the conclusion of the whole book. Comp. Intro. to Notes on the Gospels, vol. i. pp. vii., viii.
CHAPTER XXII.
A ND he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.